A West German arms firm which has persistently refused to consider even token compensation to concentration camp inmates exploited as slave laborers during World War II is being favorably considered by the U. S. Defense Department for a contract to manufacture guns for the United States, causing protests by international president William A. Wexler, of B’nai B’rith, it was revealed here this weekend.
The circumstances, which could lead to a $75,000,000 contract for Rheinmetall Company, of Dusseldorf, were disclosed in protests by Dr. Wexler to Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara.
Dr. Wexler said his organization “deeply deplores the possibility that Theinmetall, second largest arms manufacturer for the Nazi Reich, would be rewarded with a favorable contract, notwithstanding stubborn refusals “to recognize moral obligations to some 1,000 survivors of slave labor who were brutally exploited. ” A similar protest has been made by Mayor John V. Ryan, Jr., of Springfield, Mass., in a communication to President Johnson.
Many of the survivors of the group exploited by Rheinmetall are now U.S. citizens. Efforts by Jewish organizations to negotiate agreement with Rheinmetall proved futile, although the Nuremberg Tribunal had ruled that Nazi exploiters of slave labor like Rheinmetall perpetrated a crime against humanity, and were legally responsible.
A German high court decision was subsequently made against Rheinmetall. The plaintiffs were two Jewish women now living in New York. But these claims were deferred until a final peace treary. Such a treaty is unlikely at present because of Soviet policies. Agreement to compensate victims was made by Krupp, I, G. Farben and other German companies, but the alleged ex-Nazi Party members who direct Rheinmetall have adamantly refused to even consider the matter. They are Otto Paul Caesar and Ernst Blume.
Dr. Wexler protested that such dealings with an alleged Nazi firm undermines American declarations on behalf of human rights. The matter has also been discussed with West German Ambassador Heinrich Knappstein. The Mayor of Springfield is interested in the issue because an old arsenal in his city has been closed down. He told the President that the Springfield facility could produce the same weapons for which a contract is being awarded to a firm managed by two “pioneer Nazis.”
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